Department for Transport

Aviation: Fuels

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations in the report by Sustainable Aviation on Sustainable Fuels UK Roadmap, published in December 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government agrees that sustainable biofuels have a valuable role to play in reducing carbon emissions from transport, and particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives such as aviation. We also recognise that we have world class research capabilities in the UK, and share the ambition in the Sustainable Aviation’s report for the UK to become a global leader in the advanced sustainable fuels market. To that end we launched a competition on 10 December which will provide £25 million of capital funding for the construction of demonstration-scale advanced biofuel plants in the UK. We do not currently intend to revise the current policy framework (for example to make Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates available to aviation fuel suppliers) while discussions are continuing on accounting for indirect land use change under European targets. Meanwhile, we have established a Transport Energy Taskforce of experts from the aviation industry, NGOs and the fuels and automotive industry to examine options to meet our renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets, and provide greater certainty to industry. The report by Sustainable Aviation provides valuable input to this work.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many licence applications to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have taken (a) up to 30 days, (b) up to 60 days, (c) up to 90 days, (d) up to 120 days, (e) up to 150 days, (f) up to 180 days and (g) more than 180 days to be processed in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: The table below gives the information requested. Information before 2012-13 is not available. Longer processing times usually reflect the need to undertake relevant investigations with applicants’ medical practitioners. Number of days Financial YearUp to 3031-60 61-90 91-120 121-150 151-180 Over 180 2012-138,586,2672,0953452514747182013-149,081,2839,91594728098721852014-15 (to 16 December 2014)6,668,7297,4391,5272736588114

Christmas Cards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from his Department.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport did not send any Christmas cards in 2014.

Air Misses

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents involving near misses have been reported in UK airspace in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of aircraft near miss events investigated by the independent UK Airprox Board (UKAB) in the last 5 years was 147 (2009), 167 (2010), 161 (2011), 161 (2012), and 172 (2013). The number of events reported to UKAB in 2014 up to the end of November was 212. Over the past 10 years, 67% of incidents investigated by UKAB have been assessed as carrying no risk.

Railways: Standards

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of average punctuality performance on (a) the West Anglia rail route and (b) other rail franchise routes.

Claire Perry: The Department does not hold punctuality figures at the level of detail requested. The Office of Rail Regulation publish detailed performance data for Abellio Greater Anglia athttp://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/fb613ad1-feb3-40c4-bbab-ff4f8c64c6d1 The other train operators data can be seen athttp://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/3

Shipping: Recruitment

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage the recruitment of new officer recruits into the Merchant Navy; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: A company or group which elects for the Tonnage Tax is required, each year, to recruit one new officer trainee for every fifteen officer posts in its fleet. The Department also provides support for seafarer training through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme, the budget for which was increased by 25% to £15million in September 2013. Recruitment into the Merchant Navy is, however, principally a matter for the industry itself. The industry and the Government are working hand in hand to encourage and support the next generation of seafarers and are developing a range of apprenticeships for maritime occupations at sea and ashore. We support the work of the Merchant Navy Training Board and SeaVision in promoting maritime careers, and have recently collaborated with Maritime UK in the publication of "Open for Maritime Skills".

Shipping

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) establishment and (b) actual strength of the Merchant Navy Reserve was on 1 April in each of the last 15 years for which figures are available.

Mr John Hayes: The information requested is not available. The Merchant Navy Reserve scheme was disbanded in 2000.

Shipping: Training

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Merchant Navy officer cadets (a) began and (b) completed training in each of the last 15 years for which figures are available.

Mr John Hayes: Figures held by the Department relate to cadets whose training was supported through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme, and are as follows: YearStartersCompleters1998/9494Figures not available1999/2000510Figures not available2000/14692462001/24492642002/35572632003/46622642004/55552892005/65712942006/76852772007/88542862008/99253002009/107543442010/118504142011/129034292012/137763842013/14778488

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what inspections have been completed on garages performing MOT tests relating to diesel particulate filters since 26 October 2014.

Claire Perry: Every MOT tester has to apply the standards set out within the inspection manual when inspecting vehicles fitted with diesel particulate filters. Since the end of October 2014, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have visited around 1500 garages. If any issues have arisen during these visits, all staff at the garages have been made aware of the requirements.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Green Belt

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps his Department has taken to help local authorities execute their responsibilities in relation to plan-making and protection for the greenbelt.

Brandon Lewis: The Coalition Government has ensured that strong protections for the Green Belt are in place. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that most types of new building are inappropriate in Green Belt and by definition, harmful to it. Such development should not be approved except in very special circumstances. Green Belt boundaries can be altered only in exceptional circumstances following local consultation and independent scrutiny of the Local Plan. The total amount of Green Belt in England has remained constant at 13 per cent.In October we issued additional guidance to help local authorities allocate land appropriately in Local Plans [http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/housing-and-economic-land-availability-assessment/stage-5-final-evidence-base/]. This underlines the importance of Green Belt protection.The Localism Act 2011 has strengthened the role of Local Plans and abolished the last Administration's top-down Regional Strategies which sought to delete the Green Belt in and around 30 towns and cities. Our streamlined Framework strongly encourages areas to get up-to-date Local Plans in place, and we have been actively supporting councils in doing so. We have recently seen a major improvement: 80 per cent of authorities now have a published Plan. To place this in context, six years after the Labour Government's 2004 Planning Act, by May 2010, only one in six local planning authorities had an adopted Core Strategy, reflecting how the tortuous regional planning process slowed down development and stymied local plan-making and local decision-making.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's guidelines issued to local authorities on dealing with unauthorised gypsy and traveller encampments; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 05 December 2014



The Localism Act 2011 has given councils stronger powers to tackle the abuse of retrospective planning permission. We have also amended secondary legislation to give councils enhanced powers to issue Temporary Stop Notices to tackle such unauthorised sites. Our planning policy on traveller sites, published in March 2012, removed guidance from the Labour Government’s ODPM Circular 01/06 that previously restricted councils' ability to undertake planning enforcement action. We have been consulting on proposals on further reforms to planning policy and guidance on traveller sites, including ensuring that councils are not penalised for tackling large-scale unauthorised sites. My Department published in 2013 an updated guide to councils on the wide range of legal powers they have to tackle unauthorised sites. However, as I explained in the recent Westminster Hall debate of 26 November 2014, Official Report, column 314WH, we are reviewing what further steps can be taken to ensure councils and the police use their powers effectively to deal with unauthorised encampments.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of Traveller sites in England.

Brandon Lewis: It is for local authorities to plan to meet their traveller site needs, based on robust evidence, as is consistent with national planning policy as a whole.The total number of caravans on authorised sites has risen from an estimated 14,498 in July 2010 to an estimated 16,771 in July 2014.This shows our locally-led approach is working, with the abolition of top-down regional targets, the revocation of politically correct planning guidance, increased protection of the Green Belt and new powers for councils to tackle unauthorised sites.

Buildings

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on works to, and refurbishment of, offices allocated to Ministers in the last 12 months.

Kris Hopkins: There was necessary move and building works to relocate the Department from Eland House to 2 Marsham Street. This will reduce the Department's running costs by £9 million a year from 2015-16, and save taxpayers £220 million over the lifetime of the building's lease commitments.I also refer the hon. Member to my answer of 18 November 2014, Official Report, PQ 213772, on the broader savings we have made from the retionalisation of the departmental estate.

Housing: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funds from his Department, including legal fees, have been paid by Lancaster City Council for the purchase of privately owned properties in the West End of Morecambe during the Chatsworth Gardens project; and what the current value of these assets is.

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what annual budget Lancaster City Council is provided by his Department for the maintenance and security of properties in the Chatsworth Gardens housing project.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 15 December 2014



Lancaster City Council was awarded £1.9 million in May 2012 to bring 110 empty properties back into use in Morecambe’s West End. Lancaster City Council is responsible for the use of that funding and the assets acquired. Information on the current value of the assets and the annual maintenance budget is not centrally held.

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Kris Hopkins: The establishment of the House’s new Q&A system for processing Parliamentary Questions overlapped with the introduction of a new IT system within DCLG, which covers correspondence and Freedom of Information requests as well as Parliamentary Questions. This uses an ‘off-the-shelf’ package; this involved considerably less cost than would have been the case with development of a bespoke system. Our system has been developed to enable electronic transfer of questions and answers between the two systems. Both systems offer some opportunities for speeding up processing and improved monitoring facilities. The most immediate impact of the introduction of the Q&A system has been the ending of the need to subscribe to the daily House of Commons question feed service provided by The Stationary Office. This saves around £5,000 a year. The Department’s system has been in use since the beginning of September and work is continuing to develop its configuration to improve the way parliamentary questions are handled. When the new system has bedded in we will review processing arrangements to assess their effectiveness and explore whether further improvements can be made. It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Recycling: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with Brighton and Hove City Council on the recycling rate for household waste; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: We have not had any recent discussions with Brighton and Hove City Council on recycling rates for household waste. This Government is committed to recycling 50% of household waste by 2020 and we've made a great deal of progress: 44% of household waste is now recycled in England compared to 11% in 2001. While we are pleased that Brighton and Hove City Council has maintained weekly collections of residual waste for its residents, it is interesting to note it has a recycling rate of only 25.8% as other, perhaps similar, coastal towns with weekly collections of residual waste such as Bournemouth Borough Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council are now recycling over or around 50% of their household waste, in part because of funding received through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme. These and many other councils are demonstrating that you do not need to switch to fortnightly collections to achieve high recycling rates. We would urge Brighton and Hove City Council to learn from these other councils and take steps to improve its recycling rate. We are aware that projects are being implemented in the city and expect them to have an impact in the coming months. In November 2012, Brighton and Hove City Council was awarded £840,000 from the £250 million Weekly Collection Support Scheme to improve recycling in the city centre by: replacing the existing service with communal recycling points, making the service more user-friendly and introducing associated recycling reward schemes. In May 2014 we received an update stating the communal recycling roll- out should be completed by June 2014. We would therefore expect to see an increase in Brighton and Hove's recycling rate in its 2014/15 figures.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities to ensure they understand their powers to remove unauthorised encampments.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Department has made of the prevalence of the use of pre-emptive injunctions to protect land from unauthorised encampments.

Brandon Lewis: The Government is concerned about the cost and disruption that can be caused by unauthorised encampments. In August 2013, we sent all council leaders in England updated guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments-a-summary-of-available-powers) reminding them to act swiftly and setting out the strong powers councils and landowners have to deal with illegal and unauthorised encampments, including the use of pre-emptive injunctions. There are concerns about reports that, at times, the police and local authorities, have not been willing to use powers available to them. The Department will therefore be looking to have discussions with Ministerial colleagues to look at what more we can do to help councils and the police deal effectively with unauthorised encampments.

Affordable Housing

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has for a successor scheme to the Affordable Homes Programme.

Brandon Lewis: The Government’s National Infrastructure Plan announced an extension of affordable housing capital investment to 2018-19 and 2019-20, of £1.9 billion. This will bring the total of public and private investment to £38 billion which will help ensure 275,000 new affordable homes are provided between 2015 and 2020. This means over the next Parliament we will build more new affordable homes than during any equivalent period in the last twenty years.

Housing Improvement

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received on the effect of changes to rules regulating domestic extensions introduced in 2012.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department monitors the effect on local communities of domestic extensions under permitted development.

Brandon Lewis: The recent Technical Consultation on Planning set out proposals to retain the permitted development rights in respect of domestic extensions which were introduced in May 2013. We are considering the responses received. The Department has collected data on the applications in respect of the right since April 2014 which are set out in table E2 of the live tables on planning application statistics on the Department's website. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statistics

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Kosovo

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on corruption in EULEX Kosovo.

Mr David Lidington: The Government has been following reports of alleged corruption in EULEX Kosovo closely. In addition to reporting in the media, the matter has been discussed among Member States in EU working groups and the UK has made it clear to the EEAS that a thorough response is needed. The Government therefore welcomes the independent investigation into the issue recently announced by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and looks forward to its findings in due course.

Christmas Cards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from his Department.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office carefully considers all expenditure, including the purchase of Christmas cards, to ensure that the Department’s spending represents good value for money.The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the reasons advanced by the Swedish government for recognising Palestinian statehood.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Swedish position to recognise a Palestinian State has not changed UK policy. It continues to be our policy that we will also recognise a Palestinian State at a time when it will best serves the objective of peace.

Occupied Territories

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution the Government is making to international efforts to ensure that people involved in the olive harvest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are protected from violence and harassment by illegal settlers.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have had regular engagement with settler, political and religious leaders and Israeli Police and government authorities (National Security Council, Ministry of Justice, and others) on settler violence. They have specifically raised the issue of the olive harvest with several settler leaders asking them to urge restraint within their communities and help bring those responsible to justice.

Middle East

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the causes and consequences of recent unrest in East Jerusalem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The recent unrest in East Jerusalem is a consequence of the absence of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. We are concerned about the possibility of further escalation in violence. It is therefore vital that all those with influence now work together to restore calm. Every Israeli and Palestinian has a right to live in peace and security. We urge the parties to focus efforts on resuming serious and comprehensive negotiations towards resolving the conflict once and for all.

Children: Kidnapping

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance overseas posts provide to UK nationals who are seeking the return of their child from a country that is not party to the 1980 Hague Convention.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK lobbies countries that are not signatories of the 1980 Hague Convention to sign it. Cases involving non-Hague convention signatories are much harder to resolve and parents often face lengthy and expensive court proceedings abroad to try to facilitate their return.Whilst the FCO cannot interfere in another country’s judicial process, where due process is not being followed, or cases take a disproportionately long time to resolve, we raise this with our appropriate counterparts.There are a number of steps that parents can take if their child is taken overseas without their consent. We encourage parents to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consular officials who can provide further guidance.

Iraq

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of efforts to form an inclusive government in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: A new Iraqi government under Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was approved by the Iraqi parliament on 8 September. Prime Minister Abadi committed to creating an inclusive government, including representatives of Iraq’s diverse communities. This process was completed on 18 October when the Iraqi parliament approved the appointments of a new Defence Minister (one of several Sunni Ministers), an Interior Minister, and swore in six Kurdish Ministers.

Syria

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the initiative to host a conference in Moscow of representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition for talks to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK continues to believe that a negotiated political transition in Syria is the only way to end the conflict and alleviate Syria’s humanitarian crisis. The UN is best placed to facilitate any talks between the regime and the opposition designed to help bring about a political settlement. The UK supports the efforts of UN Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, to reduce the bloodshed and encourage political progress. We regularly discuss Syria with Russian counterparts, including how we can work to bring about a political resolution of the conflict, and will continue to do so.

Ethiopia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what consular visits have been made to Andargachew Tsege in prison in Ethiopia; and what reports he has received on the state of Mr Tsege's health.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Ambassador to Ethiopia has visited Mr Tsege on two occasions since his detention. The first was on 11 August, and the second on 19 December. Our Ambassador did not report any concerns about Mr Tsege’s health on either of these visits. As a detained British national, Mr Tsege’s welfare remains of the utmost importance to the FCO and we continue to press the Ethiopian authorities for regular consular access as enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the implementation of the Rome statute in that country and training of its armed forces in human rights observance.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I have had no discussions with my counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) about the implementation of the Rome statue in the DRC. On 11 June 2014 the then Minister for Africa discussed with the DRC’s representative to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit (the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs) the importance of ensuring there is no impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses.The DRC has not yet adopted the necessary legislation to incorporate the Rome Statute into domestic law. We urge it to do so and look forward to engaging the newly appointed Justice Minister on this and other related issues. Those responsible for abuses must be held to account, and law reform remains necessary to improving victims’ access to justice. We also support training of the Congolese Army in human rights and the tackling of sexual violence, through our contributions to EU Security Sector Reform Mission (EUSEC), the EU’s mission to the DRC focused on Security Sector Reform (SSR). This is helping to change attitudes and ways of operating, although there is still a long way to go.

Northern Ireland Office

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the savings to her Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems her Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment she has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The electronic Q&A system has removed the requirement to subscribe to the TSO feed for Parliamentary Questions (PQs) resulting in a saving to the Department of £6,504.40 per year.The reduced paper costs, although relatively small, are also welcome both in environmental and financial terms.The Northern Ireland Office has not had to introduce, plan to introduce or improve any existing ICT systems.The Q&A system has allowed the department to answer PQs later in the day than the previous paper-based system, mitigating against the small number of cases where answering close to the deadline was unavoidable. It also allows hon and Rt hon Members to receive their answers instantly once uploaded, and on the electronic platform of their choosing.One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what contingency arrangements his Department has reached with HM Treasury on meeting the cost of the expansion of student numbers in the absence of proceeds from the sale of the student loan book in the 2010-15 Parliament.

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department plans to fund the abolition of the cap on student numbers in the absence of proceeds from the sale of the student loan book in the 2010-15 Parliament.

Greg Clark: The removal of the cap on student numbers is not contingent on the sale of the loan book.

UK Trade and Investment: West Midlands

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses in the West Midlands have received support from UK Trade and Investment in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The figures below detail the number of businesses which have had interactions with UKTI West Midlands in the last 5 financial years. Financial YearWest Midlands basedBusinesses Assisted*2010/1123332011/1222122012/1327842013/1429932014/152799 (to Dec 2014)   *The figures provided are the total number of unique businesses that benefited from a Service Delivery. Service Delivery is participation in either the Passport To Export or Gateway to Global Growth programme, or a ‘Significant Assist’ – which is the provision of in-depth advice and support from an International Trade Advisor.

Scottish Power

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on implementing the findings of the original report compiled by the Office of Fair Trading and Department of Trade and Industry regarding the collapse of Scottish Power's Power Plan.

Jo Swinson: Statutory investigations by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Business, Innovation and Skills) using Companies Act powers are confidential and their findings cannot be disclosed outside strict statutory gateways. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not directly investigate the collapse of Scottish Power’s Power Plan. In 2003 an investigation was undertaken by the OFT into the terms and conditions used in contracts with consumers purchasing goods under the PowerPlan scheme sold by Scottish Power plc. As a result a series of recommendations regarding those terms and conditions were made to the companies who operated the scheme, and I understand that the recommendations were implemented by the companies before they entered insolvency. More generally, the OFT investigated the market for extended warranties in the UK in 2002 and, having found that competition in the market did not appear to be working effectively, referred the market to the Competition Commission (CC). Following the CC’s report in 2003, the DTI implemented the Supply of Extended Warranties on Domestic Electrical Goods Order which came into force in April 2005. The OFT undertook a further study of the market for extended warranties in 2012.

Nuclear Power

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the £60 million of funding for the National Nuclear Users Facility announced in the Autumn Statement will be used for.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



  The new funding of up to £60 million (subject to business case) for the National Nuclear Users Facility (NNUF) will enhance the previously funded nuclear systems research facilities and allow capital investment to boost UK excellence in other key areas of nuclear energy science, engineering and technology. It will help cement the relationships between the academic research community, national laboratories and users in industry, as well as giving people the experience and skills to be internationally competitive civil nuclear energy leaders.

Students: Tax Allowances

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many degree students were supported by employers in the most recent year for which figures are available; and in how many such cases tax relief was granted on the employer's costs.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects data on students enrolled at UK Higher Education Providers. In academic year 2012/13, there were 18,780 students enrolled on First Degrees in publicly funded Higher Education Institutions in the UK whose main source of tuition fees was their employer. Information on tax relief granted on employers’ costs should be requested from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Department for International Development

Travel

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Data on how much my Department has spent on (a) taxis in each of the last five years is shown below. Data on how much my Department has spent on (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel is shown for the last four years. Due to a change in travel provider, data on class of travel is not available for the period 2009/10.   Business and first class travel may be overstated due to credits (eg from cancellations) possibly not having the correct class of travel applied. All journeys of up to five hours must be in economy/standard class. Journeys of over five hours must also be in economy/standard class unless a line manager explicitly agrees that premium economy or business class is needed. First class travel is not allowed. Expenditure £m2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14(a) Taxi fares0.260.190.230.230.26(b) First Class rail faresnot available0.030.000.000.00(c) Business Class air faresnot available1.221.030.910.88

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the savings to her Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems her Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment she has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Following the introduction of the Q&A system, the Department cancelled an annual subscription to receive a daily feed of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) tabled to the Department. This has resulted in a saving of just over £6500 per year. In addition, the Department has made savings associated with the cost of printing hardcopies of PQs and delivering answers to Parliament each day. The Department worked with the House authorities in order to ensure that the introduction of the system did not require any changes or improvements to the Department’s existing ICT systems. DFID Ministers are committed to ensuring that written PQs receive timely answers, and it is welcome that the new system ensures that hon and Rt hon Members receive their answers instantly once uploaded.   One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies. It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the contribution of 11 December 2014 by the Minister of State for International Development, Official Report, column 383WH, on strengthening health systems in developing countries, when the review of NHS use of foreign workers will begin; what the terms of reference of the review are; when she anticipates that it will be concluded; and whether the Government will publish the review's conclusions and recommendations.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID continues to work with the Department of Health to keep the government’s approach to health systems strengthening under review. As set out in the government response to the International Development Committee’s report on Strengthening Health Systems in Developing Countries, DFID will develop a framework for the UK’s work on health systems strengthening that will include its approach to human resources for health and will be set in the context of the new post-2015 development goals.

Philippines

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any of the projects within (a) the Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness in High Risk Contexts programme and (b) other programmes by her Department in the Philippines have suffered any damage as a result of Typhoon Hagupit.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Typhoon Hagupit has demonstrated the need for DFID’s programmes in the Philippines and their value in saving lives and promoting recovery. Many of the programmes funded by DFID in response to Typhoon Haiyan supported better resilience of the Philippines in response to Typhoon Hagupit.   For example DFID funded £2million to construct core shelters designed to withstand winds of 250 km or more. All houses of this type built so far in Leyte or Panay islands have withstood the storm winds from Typhoon Hagupit.

Philippines

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the projects undertaken within the Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness in High Risk Contexts programme based in the Philippines were located in areas affected by Typhoon Hagupit.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Manila, Tacloban and other central belt islands were included in the UNICEF programmes and the WFP programmes for pre-positioning stocks.   DFID’s total funding to the Philippines on humanitarian response, recovery and preparedness is currently £92.3 million.

Philippines

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness in High Risk Contexts programme in directly mitigating the impact of Typhoon Hagupit.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s £20 million programme for strengthening humanitarian preparedness in high risk contexts has been a great success, with evidence showing that pre-positioned stocks are between three to fourteen times better value for money than responding after the event.   In the Philippines the programme has provided £450,000 support to the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF to preposition essential stocks and for preparedness training and national and local capacity development.   DFID’s total funding to the Philippines on humanitarian response, recovery and preparedness is currently £92.3 million.

Philippines

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what interventions other than the Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness in High Risk Contexts programme her Department has funded (a) bilaterally and (b) through multilateral partners in the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan, to support the country in adapting to future humanitarian disasters.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Following Typhoon Haiyan DFID has agreed a bilateral package of support to build preparedness and resilience to natural disasters in the Philippines over the longer term.   · £3 million for technical assistance through the World Bank to help the Philippines prepare for the financial costs of natural disasters and boost levels of insurance so the country can recover more quickly. · £820,000 through the UK Meteorological Office to the Philippines meteorological office to improve forecasting and preparedness. · £5 million to an Asian Development Bank Multi-donor Trust Fund for reconstruction and recovery.   DFID’s total funding to the Philippines on humanitarian response, recovery and preparedness is currently £92.3 million.

Philippines

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has offered to the Filipino government following Typhoon Hagupit.

Mr Desmond Swayne: I have agreed £2m from DFID’s Rapid Response Facility to help with humanitarian relief to the Philippines through the relief agencies Goal, Christian Aid and Oxfam. The money will be used to help with shelter, relief supplies, water, sanitation and livelihoods in the worst affected areas of the Philippines.

China

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will consider funding non-UNHCR programmes that support trafficked and abused North Korean women in China.

Mr Desmond Swayne: We have no plans to provide funding for non-United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees programmes that support trafficked and abused North Korean women in China. The Department for International Development does not have a bilateral aid programme in North Korea and our bilateral aid programme in China closed in March 2011.

Afghanistan

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department gives to the Afghan government to promote educational opportunities among women and girls in Afghanistan.

Justine Greening: DFID is providing £48 million through its Girls Education Challenge Fund to enable some 180,000 girls in some of the poorest rural and hard to reach areas of Afghanistan to have better access to a quality education.   In addition to this funding the UK supported the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a World-Bank managed multi-donor fund, a proportion of which is used to support education.   In 2012/13 there were more than 2.5 million Afghan girls attending school compared to virtually no girls at school in 2001.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 3 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Judith Emanuel.

Mr Desmond Swayne: My Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State responded to the Rt Hon Gentleman’s letter on 21 November 2014. The Department will forward a further copy of that letter to the Rt Hon Gentleman for his convenience.

China

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding has been provided by her Department or indirectly through other organisations which may have been used to support China's one-child policy, for instance through the purchase of ultrasound scanning equipment.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health is about providing choice, not coercion. We provide support globally to the work of the United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation to promote informed choice and better services in sexual and reproductive health, including in China. Both agencies are working to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice.

Ministry of Justice

Altcourse Prison

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many financial penalties G4S has been issued with for failures in its performance standards at HM Prison Altcourse; what the reasons for those penalties were; and on what dates they were issued.

Andrew Selous: Please see the attached table showing financial penalties for 2013/2014 and quarter 1 of 2014/2015It is important to note that performance points are essentially about operational efficiency, and at no point has public safety been at risk.The Contract for HMP Altcourse sets out a strict performance framework, consisting of prescriptive performance targets and performance points to be levied against the Contractor for failure to meet prison standards. Performance points are proportionate to the severity of failure and, depending on the total number of points accrued for the performance quarter or year, liquidated damages are applied against the Contractor in accordance with the Contract.It is important to stress that the Contractor’s performance is monitored and managed closely by MoJ staff on a daily basis and failure by the Contractor to meet performance targets results in performance points being applied. Any emerging or sustained performance failures are discussed in detail with the Contractor in order to rectify performance shortfalls as quickly as possible.It is fair to say that HMP Altcourse achieve the majority of their contractual targets with proportionately low levels of performance points and financial remedies applied as a result.



financial penalties 2013/14 - quarter 1 of 2014/15
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26 KB)

Email: Fraud

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for organising online phishing scams in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: We are committed to tackling all types of fraud regardless of whether they are committed on- or offline. The Fraud Act 2006 contains a range of offences that can be used to prosecute fraudsters who are suspected of phishing. Sections 6 and 7 of the Act, for example, criminalise the possession, making and supply of articles for the use in fraud which could include computer software programme used to create phishing websites. Although we hold data on the total number of prosecutions and convictions for offences under the the Fraud Act 2006, we cannot separately identify what proportion of these cases specifically relate to phishing scams.

Domestic Violence

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many specialist domestic violence courts have closed since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: From April 2010 Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) took responsibility for the governance and performance management of the 143 accredited Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs) across England and Wales. As of March 2014 there were 137 accredited SDVCs. However, the closure of SDVCs in some areas does not necessarily mean that provision in that area has ceased, as many of the SDVC systems cover a number of courthouses. Closure of an SDVC in one courthouse would simply mean that the case would be heard in another accredited courthouse within the Local Justice Area. HMCTS remains committed to a partnership approach to supporting domestic violence victims going through the Criminal Justice Process.

G4S

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tenders from G4S for contracts let by his Department were successful in each year since May 2010; how much his Department paid to G4S for the execution of contracts in each such year; how many contracts which terminate after 2015 G4S hold with his Department; and what the monetary value is of all outstanding contracts between his Department and G4S.

Andrew Selous: It has not been possible to collate this information in the time available. I will write to the honourable member in due course.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison officers, (b) prison governors and (c) other members of staff were assaulted in the course of their work in each of the last four years.

Andrew Selous: Violence in prisons is not tolerated and assaults on our hardworking staff are unacceptable. We do not underestimate the hard work and challenges that prison staff face on a daily basis which is why we have been working extremely closely with the police and CPS to tackle this issue. A new joint protocol produced by the Prison Service, Crown Prosecution Service and Association of Chief Police Officers will set out that when there are serious assaults on prison staff, the perpetrators will be prosecuted unless there is a good reason why not.The number of assaults on staff is published in the Safety in Custody Bulletin available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics. Table 3.1 provides the total number of staff assaults whereas the number of prisoner on officer assaults can be found in table 3.8 of the annual tables.With the exception of prison officers assaulted during “prisoner on officer” assaults, the role of the staff member involved is not recorded and so any staff members that are assaulted in other types of assault incident cannot be identified by their specific role. The incident reporting system does not record detailed information about staff members that are assaulted and so we are not able to provide the requested breakdown. Whilst this information is not held centrally assaults on staff are taken very seriously and as such are recorded and managed locally.

Courts: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on the refurbishment of court buildings in each of the last four years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts & Tribunals Service are unable to collate the information required to answer the question without a detailed check to ensure the information is accurate. I will write to the hon. Member for Hammersmith in due course with the information once it is available.

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We have not yet quantified the savings made by the introduction of the Q&A system since its introduction in June. However, the new system has enabled us to make savings from the cancellation of The Stationery Office (TSO) PQ feed for House of Commons PQs. The electronic answering of House of Commons questions, rather than the hand delivery of paper copies of answers to Parliament, also represents a significant improvement in efficiency. Another benefit of the Q&A system is for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.As part of the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to the Government’s “Digital by Default” approach, Parliamentary Branch has worked in partnership with MoJ Digital Services to develop a case management system that imports data automatically from the Q&A system. This has made further savings in stationery costs and staff time.This forms part of a series of steps we have taken in the Ministry of Justice to improve the timeliness of answers provided to Members, while also ensuring that answers are placed in the appropriate context.

Insolvency

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications of the ruling of the High Court in the case of R (on the application of Tony Whitshon) v Secretary of State for Justice on his policy on (a) insolvency litigation and (b) other exemptions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Court’s judgment concerned the issue of the application of the no win no fee reforms in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to mesothelioma claims. It does not have wider implications for insolvency and other cases.

Christmas Cards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from his Department.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We do not hold a central list of all cards sent by the Ministry of Justice.

Temporary Employment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on clerical agency staff in each month since July 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many clerical agency staff his Department has employed in each month since July 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Since April 2010 we have cut our overall spend on temporary staff by £35.5m. We only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of contractors and look for further reductions. In responding to each question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of temporary clerical staff. 1) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on clerical agency staff across - July 2014 - £3,421,108.62 (5 week period)August 2014 - £2,711,052.38 (4 week period)September 2014 - £2,946,902.62 (4 week period)October 2014 - £4,060,595.46 (5 week period)November 2014 - £3,082,356.77 (4 week period) 2) The following number of clerical agency staff have been utilised – July 2014 - 2117 (Actual)August 2014 - 2129 (Actual)September 2014 - 2271 (Actual)October 2014 - 2509 (Actual)November 2014 - 2257 (Actual)

Pancreatic Cancer

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed changes to the EU Regulation on Data Protection on pancreatic cancer research in the UK.

Simon Hughes: The Government is aware of the concerns raised by representatives of the research community about amendments to the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation that could prevent health research involving personal data from taking place. These concerns centre on amendments to the proposed Regulation which have been agreed by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committee of the European Parliament. Negotiations on the EU data protection framework are ongoing and the final text will be subject to the co-decision of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament under the ordinary legislative procedure. However, negotiations have yet to reach the ‘trialogue’ stage as the Council of the EU has not yet agreed a general approach on the text. The Government’s view is that the ability of researchers to process personal data in the way that they are legitimately able to do so at present must be preserved. The Government remains attentive to the concerns raised and will continue to engage with representatives of the research community about the processing of personal data for medical research purposes under the proposed Regulation.

Domestic Violence: Legal Aid Scheme

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the prescribed time period of evidence relating to legal aid funding of domestic violence cases refers to the time of the first application or the evidence of domestic violence.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations set out that once a legal aid certificate is granted, subsequent applications for either a new form of civil legal services or for new proceedings to be added to a certificate, and for which a new determination is being sought, will require further evidence to be provided. This Government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic violence should get legal aid where it is needed to help break free from the abusive relationship. Since the reforms were introduced last year thousands of people have successfully applied for legal aid where domestic violence is involved. The 24 month time limit for evidence does not exclude victims where the abuse occurred over two years ago. The time limit relates to the date the evidence was obtained, not the date of the abuse itself. Some forms of evidence can be obtained several months or even years after the abuse has been experienced.

Criminal Proceedings: Advocacy

Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the future of criminal advocacy and the implementation of the recommendations of the Jeffrey Report.

Chris Grayling: The Jeffrey Review clearly identifies a number of challenges for criminal advocacy services. The Government is committed to working with the profession in the first half of 2015 to make progress on reforms that will ensure the legal aid advocacy market operates competitively, sustainably and in such a way as to optimise quality. In particular, the Government proposes to take steps to ensure that defendants in criminal cases always have an informed and effective choice of the advocate who is to represent them. The Government also proposes to take measures to strengthen the current ban by the Legal Aid Agency on the payment or receipt of referral fees and to address any potential conflicts of interest. We want to make sure that defendants are fully aware of the choices available to them and that only advocates who are sufficiently qualified by their training and experience represent defendants in cases in the Crown Court.

Ministry of Defence

Vetting

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received about delays in the national security vetting process.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 December 2014



Ministers have received a small number of letters from hon. Members about delays in the national security vetting process. Processing requests for National Security Vetting clearances are, by nature, very robust as they help to establish the integrity of the applicant. Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) is also reliant upon a number of third party suppliers to complete the security checks. This has been exacerbated by a key third party supplier encountering difficulties with their IT system, which is outside of the control of the Ministry of Defence. However, these issues have now been resolved and additional personnel have been recruited to address the high volumes of applications.

Travel

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 18 December 2014



Ministry of Defence expenditure on taxis, first class train tickets and business class air travel in each of the past five years has been as follows:CategoryExpenditure2009-10 (£)2010-11(£)2011-12(£)2012-13(£)2013-14(£)(a) TaxisNote (1)£1,082,769£786,094£695,565£693,598£705,425(b) First Class Rail TicketsNote (2)£5,613,977£228,714£89,860£49,094£70,437(c) Business Class Air TravelNote (3)£14,164,557£7,402,445£8,471,983£7,373,300£7,899,821Notes:(1) This expenditure represents the reimbursement of taxi fares to Service personnel. Expenditure on taxi fares by civilian staff is not recorded discretely, but is subsumed in a public transport audit and reporting category that also includes expenditure on bus and underground travel. MOD may use a taxi for official duty when there is a business benefit to the Department or when it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available or where heavy baggage or equipment has to be carried.(2) First-class rail travel is currently authorised only exceptionally (for example, for medical reasons or for solo-occupancy sleeper travel)(3) Overseas travel in other than economy class is permitted only where both the flight duration is over 4 hours and there is a business case to demonstrate that the circumstances warrant it (for example, where significant business has to be done on arrival following an overnight flight).We are, under our transformational programmes, encouraging and facilitating the adoption of working practices that minimise the need to travel (such as audio and video conferencing). Those staff who need to travel must do so in a way that is the most economical in both cost and official time.

Military Bases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department was in 2013-14 of maintaining the facilities at (a) AFC Harrogate, (b) ATR Lichfield, (c) ITC Catterick, (d) ATR Pirbright, (e) ATR Winchester, (f) HMS Raleigh and (g) RAF Halton.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is provided below.Maintenance costs onlyFY 2013-14£ millionHMS Raleigh3.1RAF Halton3ATR Lichfield[1]NoneAFC Harrogate[2]-ATR Pirbright[2]-ATR Winchester[2]-ITC Catterick[2]- [1] Information for ATR Lichfield is not held as the ATR closed in November 2009 when Joint Medical Command assumed operational control of the site. [2] Infrastructure costs (including utilities) are managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation through contracts which do not split out the costs for individual units operating on a particular site. For this reason the maintenance costs for the above sites cannot be provided.

RFA Arugs

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many beds on RFA Argus are in use; and how many patients have been treated on board that ship since her arrival in Sierra Leone.

Mr Mark Francois: The role of RFA Argus is to provide both a logistical and a medical evacuation capability. This logistical support is provided by three Merlin helicopters embarked on board and a riverine capability to enable Royal Marines to deploy in support of UK operations. The ship also forms part of the wider provision of non-Ebola medical care for primarily UK military and HMG personnel.In its current configuration RFA Argus has ten Ward beds and two Intensive Therapy Unit beds in the facility on board. In addition there are two Trauma/Emergency Department beds and one further bed in the operating theatre, making an overall total of 15. As at 6 January 2015 only one bed is currently occupied. However, a further 12 patients have been admitted to, and treated in, the facility since its arrival in Sierra Leone. Two others were treated in the Emergency Department and discharged.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's document entitled Combined Seapower: A Shared Vision for Royal Navy-United States Cooperation.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's document Combined Seapower: A Shared Vision for Royal Navy-United States Cooperation, how the Royal Navy and the United States Navy will conduct (a) combined aircraft carrier operations and (b) force and capability planning.

Mr Mark Francois: The strategy document "Combined Seapower: A Shared Vision for Royal Navy-United States Navy Cooperation" was signed by the First Sea Lord and the United States' Chief of Naval Operations on 10 December 2014. A copy of this document will be placed in the Library of the House. This vision ensures that, building on the strong relationships and joint cooperation already in place, our Navies will continue to maintain a balanced mix of capabilities and activities to complement one another's mutual priorities, and will be able to exploit beneficial options for co-operation and interoperability. UK pilots are already training with their American counterparts to maintain our capability for carrier strike and, as the UK's capability comes on line, the framework will allow both Navies to capitalise on the opportunities presented for combined US-UK carrier operations.  



Combined  Seapower
(PDF Document, 1.28 MB)

RAF Leuchars

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the (a) Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and (b) 2 Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to relocate to the military base at Leuchars; how many military personnel make up each unit; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: The main body of personnel from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 2 Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers will arrive at Leuchars during June and July 2015. Advance parties from both units will arrive in February, March and May. There are currently 370 and 285 personnel in each unit respectively.

RAF Leuchars

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what items of infrastructure have been (a) commissioned for installation and (b) installed at RAF Leuchars in preparation of the arrival of Army units and associated personnel; how much each such item (i) was estimated to and (ii) has cost; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: To date we have not installed or commissioned any new infrastructure at RAF Leuchars for the arrival of the Army units.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 3 of his Department's document, Universal Credit National Expansion, published on 9 December 2014, what steps his Department takes to ensure that place-names are not mis-spelled in its publications.

Mr Mark Harper: We apologise for this single mistake, it falls short of our normal standards for publications.

Social Security Benefits: Immigrants

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on amendments required to EU law to limit the access of migrants to national welfare systems.

Esther McVey: Ministers and officials are in regular dialogue with the European Commission and other Member States about the coordination of social security in the European Union. DWP Ministers and officials have met with a number of their European counterparts in recent months to discuss mutual matters of interest where reforms to the social security coordination system have been discussed.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horses: Iraq

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward proposals to amend restrictions on entry to the UK by animals to enable competition horses from Iraq to compete in the UK.

George Eustice: Imports of equidae (horses, donkeys etc.) from third countries into the UK are governed by Council Directive 2009/156/EC. This lays down the animal health conditions concerning the movement and import from third countries. Commission Decision 2004/211/EC (as amended) establishes a list of third countries from which imports of equidae are authorised as satisfying these conditions.   Iraq is not on the list of authorised third countries. In order for it to be included, Iraq would need to demonstrate to the European Commission that it can satisfy the conditions contained in the Directive.

Home Office

Asylum: Deportation

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been returned to France under the Dublin Convention in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 03 November 2014



The number of people transferred to France under the Dublin Convention, and the later Dublin II and Dublin III Regulations is shown in the following table:   Year2010201120122013People Transferred1211535749 Since 2010 we have been stopping more clandestine migrants before they cross the Channel. The number of illegal migrants detected at juxtaposed controls by our agencies have risen from over 8,000 in 2011/2012 to over 18,000 in 2013/2014.The Dublin Regulations are extremely helpful in ensuring that asylum seekers who are properly the responsibility of another participating State can be transferred from the UK to that State. The figures quoted in the table above have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on (a) consultants, (b) temporary staff and (c) contingent labour in each of the last five years; how many people have been so employed; what the length of contract of each such person was; and what equivalent civil service salary band each was on.

Lynne Featherstone: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 January 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Expenditure incurred by the Home Department and its agencies on consultants, temporary staff and contingent labour in the last five years is published annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the House Library and available from these links.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-to-2012https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ho-annual-report-and-accounts-2010-to-2011https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-resource-accounts-2009-to-2010https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/247694/0193.pdfThe Department did not separately account for Agency Staff (Temporary Workers) in these years as the costs associated with this category are included in the overall Contingent Labour figures. Spend on contingent and consultancy labour has decreased significantly overall since 09/10. FY09/10 FY10/11FY11/12FY12/13FY13/14 £m£m£m£m£mConsultancy£227.470£64.194£33.301£14.762£18.014Contingent Labour £134.000£51.472£37.772£50.672£72.430   The Department engages Temporary Staff at AA, AO, EO, HEO and SEO equivalent Grades, the vast majority at the AA to EO grades. Contractors are engaged in grade equivalents EO to SCS PB1 with the vast majority at SEO and G6/7.The Department buys consultancy as a service and therefore does not engage consultants individually.To provide details of contract durations and equivalent grades would require analysis of individual contracts and disparate datasets, the time taken to undertake this task would incur disproportionate cost.

Karen Bradley: Expenditure incurred by the Home Department and its agencies on consultants, temporary staff and contingent labour in the last five years is published annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the House Library and available from these links.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-to-2012https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ho-annual-report-and-accounts-2010-to-2011https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-resource-accounts-2009-to-2010https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/247694/0193.pdfThe Department did not separately account for Agency Staff (Temporary Workers) in these years as the costs associated with this category are included in the overall Contingent Labour figures. Spend on contingent and consultancy labour has decreased significantly overall since 09/10. FY09/10 FY10/11FY11/12FY12/13FY13/14 £m£m£m£m£mConsultancy£227.470£64.194£33.301£14.762£18.014Contingent Labour £134.000£51.472£37.772£50.672£72.430   The Department engages Temporary Staff at AA, AO, EO, HEO and SEO equivalent Grades, the vast majority at the AA to EO grades. Contractors are engaged in grade equivalents EO to SCS PB1 with the vast majority at SEO and G6/7.The Department buys consultancy as a service and therefore does not engage consultants individually.To provide details of contract durations and equivalent grades would require analysis of individual contracts and disparate datasets, the time taken to undertake this task would incur disproportionate cost.

G4S and Serco

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tenders from (a) Serco and (b) G4S for contracts let by her Department have been successful in each year since May 2010; how much her Department paid to each of those companies for the execution of contracts in each such year; how many contracts which terminate after 2015 each company hold with her Department; and what the monetary value is of all outstanding contracts between her Department and each company.

Karen Bradley: As part of the Government’s Transparency Agenda the Home Department publishes all its contracts over £10,000. Contracts are publically available on the Contracts Finder portal. www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Contract data fields will contain the information requested. Where any monetary value sections are incomplete, this is because the information has been deemed commercially sensitive and may be detrimental to both the Department or the supplier to release.

Drugs: Misuse

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of the drug-induced mortality rate in (a) Sweden, (b) Portugal and (c) the UK.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



The Home Office has not directly compared the drug-induced mortality rates in Portugal, Sweden and the UK. Such a direct comparison would be problematic, as data collection methods and definitions of a drug-related death vary markedly between countries. However, a wide range of data, including health outcomes such as drug-related deaths, was reviewed as part of the drugs International Comparators Study. The report demonstrated that health outcomes are affected by a range of complex cultural, social and political factors as well as legislation, policing and health care policies. The report did not make recommendations for UK policy.

Temporary Exclusion Orders

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK nationals she estimates are overseas and would potentially be subject to temporary exclusion orders.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



More than 500 individuals of interest to the police and security services have travelled from the UK to Syria and the region since the start of the conflict. The temporary exclusion power will be just one of a number of tools available for managing the threat posed by such individuals. The Secretary of State will be able to impose an order if she reasonably suspect that an individual is or has been involved in terrorism-related activity while outside the UK, and considers that such an order is an appropriate tool to manage the threat he or she poses to the UK.For operational security reasons, I cannot comment specifically on how many individuals might be subject to temporary exclusion orders. This will be a discretionary power which will be considered for use on a case by case basis.

USA

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any officials of her Department, British officials acting on behalf of the Government, or British diplomats in the US requested that the US Senate Committee on Intelligence redact any part of its report on the US Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program that potentially could compromise UK national security interests.

James Brokenshire: The US authorities provided our Security and Intelligence Agencies with limited sight of some sections of the executive summary prior to its publication.Our Agencies highlighted a small number of issues in the proposed text where changes would be necessary solely to protect UK national security and intelligence operations. None of these redactions related to allegations of UK involvement in detainee mistreatment.I am advised that we did not lobby, at any level, to have information removed or redacted in relation to UK involvement in rendition or mistreatment of detainees. The UK government did not receive a copy of the report before publication

Counter-terrorism

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Prevent strategy funding will be used in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities in the next financial year.

James Brokenshire: Final funding allocations for 2015-16 within the Home Office are not yet finalised. At this stage we are unable to provide details on the proportion that schools, colleges and universities will receive from the 2015/16 budget for the Prevent Strategy.

Counter-terrorism

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding the Government has allocated to the Prevent strategy for (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

James Brokenshire: Government allocation for the Prevent strategy in 2013–14 and 2014–15 is as follows:Financial Year Funding Amount (£)2013-2014 39 million2014-2015 40 millionAt this stage, the 2015/16 budget for the Prevent Strategy is yet to be finalised.

UK Border Agency

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to increase the number of front-line staff employed to work at the UK border.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



Border Force has recruited additional officers over the past two and a half years and currently employs 7,900 operational staff across the UK – an increase from 7,029 in 2012. Border Force officers work closely with the National Crime Agency's Border Policing Command, which was created in 2013 and has over 300 officers based at UK ports and airports, to ensure that there is a single coherent strategy for border security, based on a shared assessment of risk and threat.Border Force has a clear operating mandate that sets out the checks required for both passengers and customs activity. Its workforce has become increasingly multi-skilled, dynamic and flexible; allowing for staff to be deployed to areas of greatest need at short notice. This approach, which is similar to those adopted by other law enforcement organisations, ensures that frontline resources are concentrated where they are needed most.

Mediterranean Sea

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to seek a reduction in the incidence of deaths among refugees crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

James Brokenshire: The Government is working with EU partners to prevent the deaths of people crossing the Mediterranean through joint efforts under the EU’s Task Force Mediterranean, established following the Lampedusa tragedy inOctober 2013. While the UK is providing support for the new Frontex (EU External Border Agency) Operation ‘Triton’, an enhanced maritime border management operation that intercepts migrants in the Mediterranean, we believe that the only sustainable means of addressing this issue is to take action to dissuade migrants from making these perilous and illegal journeys in the first place, enhance protection in refugees’ region of origin, and combat the criminal facilitators who place migrants’ lives at risk. This is why we support the EU’s focus on action ‘upstream’ in third countries of origin and transit.For instance, we are playing a leading role in the new ‘Khartoum Process’ under which the EU countries and countries in the Horn of Africa will work together to combat people smuggling and human trafficking in that region. We also support the EU’s proposals for Regional Development and Protection Programmes (RDPPs) to provide sustainable protection for refugees in North and East Africa. The UK also continues to work with EU partners and international organisations to develop information campaigns in North and East Africa, aimed at dissuading migrants from risking dangerous Mediterranean and Saharan crossings and countering the work of criminal facilitators.

Wales Office

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Alun Cairns: The electronic Q&A system has removed the requirement to subscribe to the TSO feed for Parliamentary Questions (PQs) resulting in a saving to the Department of £6,504.40 per year.The reduced paper costs, although relatively small, are also welcome both in environmental and financial terms.The Wales Office has not had to introduce, plan to introduce or improve any existing ICT systems.The Q&A system has allowed the department to answer PQs later in the day than the previous paper-based system, mitigating against the small number of cases where answering close to the deadline was unavoidable. It also allows hon and Rt hon Members to receive their answers instantly once uploaded, and on the electronic platform of their choosing.One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

HM Treasury

Unpaid Taxes: Northern Ireland

Dr William McCrea: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of the value of uncollected tax in Northern Ireland.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs published its latest tax gap estimates on 16 October 2014 in 'Measuring Tax Gaps' 2014 edition.   In 2012-13 the UK tax gap was estimated at £34 billion, 6.8 per cent of total tax due. We do not break this down by country.   Estimates of the non UK duty paid market for petrol and diesel fuels in Northern Ireland are published on pages 7 and 41-43. The non UK duty paid estimate covers both the illicit market and cross border shopping.   The excise duty losses due to the non-UK duty paid diesel market were £60 million for both 2011-12 and 2012-13. The excise duty losses due to the petrol non-UK duty paid market were £30 million for both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Fraud

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) fraud and (b) financial error in (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: All members of the Treasury Group have strict procedures in place to eliminate where possible, opportunities for fraud and financial error.

EU Institutions

Stephen Phillips: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the European Commission on budgetary prudence with regards to EU staff pay and pensions.

Mr David Gauke: The Government is committed to a significant reduction in EU administrative costs, including the level of pay and pensions for EU staff. The Prime Minister’s deal on the Multiannual Financial Framework delivered a real terms cut to the EU’s seven year budget. Nevertheless, EU administrative spending remains unacceptably high and the Government routinely pushes the European Commission for restraint.

Small Businesses: VAT

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential of the changes which come into force on 1 January 2015 on VAT rules for small and micro businesses in the UK which sell digital products to other EU Member states.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the honourable member to my reply to his question number 219172.

Small Businesses: VAT

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with small and medium-sized businesses which are likely to be affected by the introduction of VAT mini one stop shop and the new VAT rules which come into force on 1 January 2015.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the honourable member to my reply to his question number 219175.

Environment Protection: Taxation

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much he forecasts will accrue to the Exchequer from (a) the Carbon Price Floor and (b) the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in each of the next six years.

Mr David Gauke: Table B.3 of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement 2014 sets out forecasts for Exchequer revenue from the Climate Change Levy and from EU Emissions Trading System auction receipts for each year up to financial year 2019/20. Receipts accruing from the Carbon Price Floor are incorporated within the Climate Change Levy revenue forecast. Both forecasts are shown in the table below.14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/20Climate Change Levy (£bn)1.72.12.01.81.71.6EU ETS auction receipts (£bn)0.30.30.30.30.40.6

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Wind Power: Noise

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will publish the full terms of reference of his Department's review of wind turbine noise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether his Department plans to issue an invitation to tender for the research required for its review of wind turbine noise; and what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that that review will be independent.

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will publish correspondence between his Department and the Institute of Acoustics relating to his Department's review of wind turbine noise.

Matthew Hancock: DECC intends to appoint acoustics experts to review the evidence on wind turbine amplitude modulation (AM), with a view to providing advice on how appropriate AM thresholds might be set in planning conditions. DECC officials are preparing an Invitation to Tender currently and expect to issue it in the New Year and to appoint a contractor as soon as we are able following the conclusion of the tendering exercise. Copies of the correspondence between my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the President of the IOA are available on DECC’s website:https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-use-of-low-carbon-technologies/supporting-pages/onshore-wind.

Green Deal Scheme: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the possibility of making the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund available to householders in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



DECC Ministers meet regularly with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. A proportion of the funding that has been used in England and Wales for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund has been made available separately to the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments.

Fossil Fuels: Carbon Emissions

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what constraints there are on the carbon emissions of fossil fuel plant falling beneath the 20MW threshold.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



Several Government policies apply. These include the Climate Change Levy (CCL), Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) and the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). In addition, this Government has introduced the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) to further encourage business energy efficiency.

Fossil Fuels: Licensing

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 212486, when he expects the assessment of the applications received under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing round to be completed; and when he expects to set a date for announcement of the award of licences.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



The assessment of the applications is ongoing. We hope to be able to announce licence offers in the early part of 2015.

Cabinet Office

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Office from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Office has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the savings to No. 10 Downing Street from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems No. 10 Downing Street has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Mr Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office.The new Q&A system replaces an outdated paper-based process with a digital solution for responding to Written Parliamentary Questions. This has made things considerably more simple for officials, particularly those working in my parliamentary team. In addition, following the introduction of the Q&A system within my Department, a decision was taken to end an existing contract with The Stationery Office that resulted in an annual saving of £6,508 (Ex VAT).It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the Q&A system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Minimum Wage

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 218189, how many people in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority were workers paid less than the national minimum wage (NMW); and what proportion of the total number of workers paid less than the NMW such figures represent.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - National Minimum Wage
(PDF Document, 125.36 KB)

Voluntary Work: Crawley

Henry Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has for the National Citizen Service in Crawley constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson: 117 young people took part in National Citizen Service (NCS) in Crawley and surrounding area in 2014.This year will again see NCS programmes taking place in every local authority across England, giving more young people the opportunity to take part in this life changing programme.The government is committed to giving as many young people as possible the chance to take part in NCS and the significant growth of the programme so far is set to continue this year across the country.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the access entitlements of communications providers under the Electronic Communications Code and those of electricity, gas and water companies.

Mr Edward Vaizey: In January 2014, DCMS published the report “Modelling the Economic Impact of Alternative Wayleave Regimes” which contained a comparative assessment of economic impact of the regimes used by the communications, energy and water sectors when using a wayleave to install, access and maintain equipment on private land. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons library.

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to take forward proposals from the Law Commission on the wayleaves regime and Electronic Communications Code.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code in line with the recommendations set out by the Law Commission in its report published in February 2013.

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to implement proposals from the Law Commission to reform the Electronic Communications Code by introducing red book value parameters governing wayleave negotiations between communications providers and land owners.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code in line with the recommendations set out by the Law Commission in its report of February 2013. In this report, the Law Commission concluded that the existing market based approach to valuation was on the whole, functioning, but recommended some small modifications to improve the valuation regime. Government accepts this recommendation and will implement this reform. However, Government will also take a Power in the legislation, to allow the Secretary of State to make further changes to the wayleave valuation regime, if necessary following consultation, at a later date following full consultation. Government intends to lay amendments to the Infrastructure Bill.

Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of funding of Phase 2 broadband contracts which has come from the private sector in the Superfast Broadband Programme.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The proportion of funding that will be contributed by suppliers under phase 2 projects that have signed contracts to date is 28 percent.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what government schemes are targeted at reaching the final five per cent in addition to the Rural Community Broadband Fund and the fund for pilot schemes.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Since 2010 the government has committed £780 million to bringing Britain into the digital superfast lane. The rollout of superfast broadband will reach 95% of the UK by 2017 because of our investment and the match funding it has leveraged. In addition to rolling out superfast to 95% we are exploring ways to go beyond this through a series of pilot schemes; and we are extending our successful Connection Voucher Scheme which helps businesses with broadband connection costs. Currently available in the 22 Super Connected Cities, the Connection Voucher scheme will be extended to more cities in 2015.

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS has made no estimates regarding the savings resulting from the introduction of the Q&A system or the extent to which the system has improved the way it answers questions from Hon. Members. It has not introduced nor plans to introduce any ICT systems that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system. It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Horse Racing

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received on the future funding for racing; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: This year we have run two consultations on the Horserace Betting Levy. The first focused on extending the Levy to offshore operators and received 24 responses. The second looked at reform or replacement of the Levy and received 100 responses.As a result of our analysis of the responses to the two consultations it is clear that more detail is required as to how a replacement for the Levy would work in order to enable a full comparison between reform and replacement to be made.Therefore, as announced in the Autumn Statement, we will consult, early in 2015, on a Racing Right and intend to announce a decision in the light of all three consultations.

Meetings

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2014 to Question 217271, which National Audit Office report was discussed at the Audit and Risk Committee meeting of 4 December 2014; and if he will publish the minutes of that meeting.

Mrs Helen Grant: At the DCMS Audit and Risk Committee meeting on 4 December, the NAO presented its Annual planning report on the 2014-15 financial statement audit in preparation for its audit of the 2014-15 DCMS Group Annual Report and Accounts, that will take place after the financial year-end in 2015. The minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee are not published.

Christmas Cards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from his Department.

Mrs Helen Grant: As in previous years DCMS did not spend any money sending Christmas cards.

Rugby: Northern Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the all-Ireland bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

Mrs Helen Grant: Officials in DCMS have regular discussions on a range of issues with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the Northern Ireland Executive's Non-Departmental body responsible for securing a major event programme for Northern Ireland. The matter of an all-Ireland Rugby World Cup bid has been raised.

BBC

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has received any representations asking him to intervene in the BBC's decision to broadcast the short story, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State has not received any representations asking him to intervene in the BBC's decision to broadcast the short story, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of Government and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in the corporation’s day-to-day operations.

House of Commons Commission

Robert Rogers

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, when the Commission was first informed of the ennoblement of Sir Robert Rogers; and whether it made any general response to this notification.

John Thurso: Peerages are granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister and are not a matter for the Commission.

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 216807, what proportion of students who initiated an online registration failed to finish that registration; and what information he holds on the main reason for failure to conclude the registration process.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The online registration system does not identify electors as students so the requested information is not avaliable.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the Brighton and Hove City Deal.

Greg Clark: The Greater Brighton City Deal, announced on 12 March 2014, initiated some important measures to boost the local economy. These include the expansion of the area’s tech cluster, and funding for flood defence works at Shoreham and Newhaven. Local leaders expect the deal to deliver 8,500 jobs and unlock £173 million of investment over its lifetime.

Politics and Government: Public Participation

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to participate in the democratic process.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In June last year, the Government introduced online electoral registration for the first time. Our new online system allows people to register to vote quickly and simply - a crucial first step to engaging in the democratic process. Since 1 July 2014 nearly 4.3m people have applied to register to vote under individual electoral registration, with about two thirds of this number making their application online.

Electoral Register: Northern Ireland

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, If he will implement an initiative similar to that in Northern Ireland for registering young voters through schools throughout the UK.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government has learnt from the implementation of individual voter registration in Northern Ireland. As such we have, for example, retained the safeguard of the annual canvas and provided funding to maximise registration rates across Great Britain.   The Government has no plans to require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Britain to visit schools. EROs in Great Britain are already free to visit schools and further education colleagues in their area to promote registration, and many of them do.

Devolution: South West

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what plans he has to further devolve powers to the South West.

Mr Nick Clegg: The Growth Deal agreed with Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership last summer will see almost £49 million invested in Cornwall & Isles of Scilly. The deal will see a range of transport and infrastructure investments in the area, including £2 million to the Newquay Growth Area improving access to Newquay Airport and opening up employment and housing sites.

Electoral Register

Nick Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, when the Government will report on the findings of the pilot scheme allowing councils to use DVLA data to match voters during the transition to individual electoral registration; and what plans he has to extend that scheme.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, when the Government will report on the findings of the pilot scheme allowing councils to use DVLA data to match voters during the transition to individual electoral registration; and what plans he has to extend that scheme.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The DVLA pilot scheme aims to support Electoral Registration Officers in fulfilling their responsibilities for improving the accuracy and completeness of the electoral register. The evaluation will be published in due course and any considerations to extend this scheme will depend on the outcome of the pilots.

Economic Growth: North of England

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent progress he has made on the Northern Futures project.

Mr Nick Clegg: Supporting economic growth in the north of England is vital to the long term success of our economy. At the Autumn Statement the Government committed £7 billion to replacing pacer trains and to improving the road network across the North.   We have also agreed devolution deals with Manchester and Sheffield and negotiations with Leeds are progressing.

Department of Health

Consultants

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on the use of external consultants to advise on the governance of the NHS in the last 12 months.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does hold cost information on the amount spent with external consultants. However, the information captured by this central record does not enable us to readily identify the expenditure which relates specifically to governance of the National Health Service in the last 12 months. In order to gather all possible relevant information, we would need to contact each business area and Directorate in the Department requiring them to check their records. This undertaking would amount to a substantial effort across the Department and could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

Prescription Drugs

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2014 to Question 216568, what discussions his Department had with patient groups other than Breast Cancer Campaign, when developing its response to the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

George Freeman: We have had no other discussions with patient groups other than Breast Cancer Campaign. The Bill raises a number of issues and we will be discussing these at a roundtable stakeholder event in the new year, to which a broader range of patient groups will be invited.

NHS: Working Hours

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on out-of-hours services in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Holding answer received on 18 December 2014



The amount spent on out-of-hours services in cash and real terms in each of the last five years is represented in the table below:  2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14Cash terms£403,837,000£397,175,000£403,081,000£396,247,000£399,433,000Real terms£403,837,000£386,480,000£385,331,000£372,587,000£368,785,000   Cash terms from Health and Social Care Information Centre data ‘Investment in General Practice’ via:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB14900/inve-gene-prac-eng-wal-ni-scot-09-14-rep.pdf   Real prices are presented in 2009-10 prices, based on the latest GDP deflators (from December 2014). Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000.   In addition, the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund is making available £50 million this year and £100 million next year to improve access to general practitioners.

Written Questions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.

Dr Daniel Poulter: We have made no estimate of savings specifically arising from the introduction of the Q&A system, and have not improved or added to existing systems. The Q&A system allows us to receive questions directly from the Table Office, and for hon. Members to receive answers more quickly by removing the need for the delivery of printed versions.   One of the potential benefits of the new system is for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.   It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.

Dialysis Machines

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contact NHS England had with the Renal Association and the British Renal Society on commissioning of dialysis services before putting forward its proposals to devolve commissioning to clinical commissioning groups.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has advised that there was contact between NHS England and stakeholder groups, including the Renal Association (RA) and the British Renal Society (BRS), prior to the proposals being made.   NHS England is in dialogue with key stakeholders about both the opportunities and challenges of transferring responsibility for renal services. The head of the Specialised Services Task Force in NHS England recently met stakeholders from renal service representative groups (including RA and BRS) and heard their concerns directly.   NHS England has recently established a Task & Finish group through the NHS Commissioning Assembly. This group comprises representatives from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England, and will oversee the development and delivery of proposals for commissioning of specialised services in 2015-16 and beyond.   Within this Task & Finish group, a sub-group will be responsible for planning and managing the transition process for services that are being transferred from national to CCG commissioning (including renal dialysis) from 1 April 2015.

Diabetes

Mr Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2014 to Question 216036, if he will place in the Library data tables from the Care Quality Commission's bespoke analyses, referred to in its report Thematic data review of diabetes care pathways, published on 16 October 2014, broken down by (a) commissioner and (b) provider.

Jane Ellison: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.   A copy of the information requested has been attached.   The CQC has advised that the attached dataset contains the breakdown (at National Health Service acute provider and clinical commissioning group (CCG) level) of bespoke analysis carried out by the CQC as part of the 'Thematic data review of diabetes care pathways: secondary care analysis comparing people with and without diabetes' that was published alongside the CQC's 2013/14 State of Care report on 16 October 2014.   The analysis compares the outcomes within each provider or CCG for people with diabetes against a reference group of similar people without diabetes. It is not a comparison of performance between providers or CCGs and it would be inappropriate to use the data in this way. The analysis at provider and CCG level should be treated as experimental and the measures should not be considered as judgements of providers or CCGs. 



Diabetes care pathways data review- CCG & provider
(Excel SpreadSheet, 100.3 KB)

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2014 to Question 216642, whether the data requested is available in another format.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2014 to Question 216646, whether the data requested is available in another format.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2014 to Question 216645, whether the data requested is available in another format.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2014 to Question 216613, whether the data requested is available in another format.

Jane Ellison: The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database uses the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10) method of recording diseases and diagnoses. The term cardiovascular disease (CVD) is too broad to be used in this classification system.   Definitions of CVD vary, but the World Health Organization (WHO) defines cardiovascular diseases as a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels which include:   - coronary heart disease: disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle; - cerebrovascular disease: disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain; - peripheral arterial disease: disease of blood vessels supplying the arms and legs; - rheumatic heart disease: damage to the heart muscle and heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal bacteria; - congenital heart disease: malformations of heart structure existing at birth; and - deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs.   Data recorded on the HES database is available for coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes related peripheral vascular disease, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Data may also be available for some of the other diseases included in the WHO’s definition of CVD.

Autism

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides on sharing population data across local agencies for the purposes of planning autism services to (a) local authorities, (b) clinical commissioning groups, (c) NHS trusts, (d) NHS foundation trusts and (e) health and wellbeing boards.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's report, Think Autism, published in April 2014, what discussions his Department has had with other departments on feedback on the type of apprenticeships offered to people with autism.

Norman Lamb: Information on sharing population data across local agencies for the purpose of planning autism services across local authorities and the National Health Service was set out in Think Autism, the April 2014 update to the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy, and is in the draft statutory guidance to implement it. The statutory guidance was out for consultation from 7 November until 19 December. The Department also funded the National Autistic Society to look at data issues and wider discussions are planned. Officials have also discussed the issue of apprenticeships for people with autism with the Departments for Work and Pensions and Business, Innovation & Skills and these discussions will continue. A number of the recently announced Autism Innovation Fund projects focus on employment and apprenticeships and their outcomes will also help work in this area. A summary of progress achieved across all actions in Think Autism will be published in August 2015.

Hepatitis

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS England to publish an updated service specification for hepatitis C services.

Jane Ellison: A specification for hepatitis C services is currently in draft form and is being taken through NHS England processes for approval. If approved, NHS England anticipate that it would be implemented in 2015-16.

General Dental Council

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the General Dental Council addresses concerns expressed about its performance by local dental committees.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The General Dental Council (GDC) is an independent statutory body constituted by order of the Privy Council. Ministers have no legal basis to intervene in the day to day running of the GDC. However, in my role as Minister I do have a keen interest in the performance of the professional regulators and take the opportunity to have regular contact with them, including the GDC. I have raised the matter of the GDC’s performance with them, following the publication of the review by the Professional Standards Authority. In addition, I spoke at a recent adjournment debate on this matter.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to implement the new draft guidelines for type 1 and type 2 diabetes produced by NICE.

Jane Ellison: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing four pieces of guidance relating to diabetes and it is anticipated they will be published in August 2015.   Whilst NICE clinical guidelines are advisory, healthcare and other professionals in the National Health Service are, however, expected to take them fully into account when exercising their professional judgement.

Ebola

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 217522, whether the jobs of all NHS workers that are deployed to Ebola-affected regions are kept open for their return.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 217522, what the (a) pension payments and (b) other salary arrangements are for NHS staff while deployed to Ebola-affected regions.

Jane Ellison: Staff deployed as part of Her Majesty’s Government programme with the Department for International Development (DfID) and UK-Med are being released by their employing organisation and will return to their post after deployment, unless otherwise agreed between the individual and their organisation. They will continue to be remunerated in line with normal arrangements. Pension payments and their normal salary continue to be paid by their employer. The reasonable costs of backfill, to enable them to be released from their normal duties to carry out this work, is paid through a grant from DfID, administered through UK-Med.   Individuals who choose to deploy independently outside the UK International Emergency Medical Register process are responsible for agreeing directly with their NHS employer their release, return, and any salary and pension arrangements.

Ambulance Services: North West

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria are used by the North West Ambulance Service to define whether a patient is an emergency case.

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have been categorised as non-emergency by the North West Ambulance Service in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally but may be obtained from the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.